Meet the Executive Team
Michael Atkinson, Executive Director
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Michael Atkinson’s entire academic career has involved public policy and political institutions as a researcher, teacher and commentator. He began in a conventional way, working mostly on parliamentary institutions in the Canadian provinces and at the federal level. In the 1980s his energies shifted toward public policy, especially industrial policy, and he co-authored, with William Coleman, papers and a UT Press book that argued for a policy networks approach within a political economy framework. In the 1990s Atkinson shifted once again, this time toward the study of political corruption and political ethics. His interest in this topic goes back to graduate student days, but he has pursued it with more attention during the last several years, seeking answers to behavioural questions. In the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School these various strands of work have come together. Research with his colleague Murray Fulton has emphasized a behavioural economics approach to public sector management issues, such as compensation, and to political ethics; his teaching has alternated between public administration and higher education policy. As executive director, he has been able to draw on his experience as the provost of the University of Saskatchewan to facilitate relations with government and help establish the school as a genuine collaboration between the provinces’ two universities.
Contact information:
Email: michael.atkinson@usask.ca
Phone: (306) 966-1984
For more information on Dr. Atkinson, please visit his profile page.
Ken Rasmussen, Associate Director
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As the associate director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Ken Rasmussen works closely with the JSGS leadership team in developing the school’s academic programs, conferences, executive training programs and other engagement strategies. He reports directly to the provost at the University of Regina and is a member of Dean’s Council and the University Leadership Team. In addition to these roles, Rasmussen has a continuous level of interaction with university administrators in both institutions and at all levels, and with the provincial and federal governments with whom the school partners in executive training and internship programming. His areas of research interest include public enterprise management, administrative reform, administrative history, non-profit organizations, ethics and leadership, and provincial politics.
Contact information:
Email: ken.rasmussen@uregina.ca
Phone: (306) 585-5463
For more information on Dr. Rasmussen, please visit his profile page.
Dan Perrins, Director of Outreach and Training
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As director of Outreach and Training of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Dan Perrins is able to draw on his experience as a long time public servant with the Government of Saskatchewan. In his 36 years with the province, he started as a frontline social worker before going on to hold a number of increasingly senior positions in Social Services, Health, Education, Post-Secondary Education and Skill Training, concluding his career as the Deputy Minister to the Premier and Head of the Public Service. Perrins is based at the University of Regina where he is responsible for the facilitation of many of our Outreach and Training seminars, lecturing extensively on public administration, social policy and the machinery of government. Dan has been awarded the Queen's Gold Jubilee Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal and the Institute of Public Administration Canada's Lieutenant Governor General's Medal for Distinguished Service. He also serves as chair of the St. Thomas More College Board at the University of Saskatchewan and is a member of the Board of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). Perrins is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and the School of Social Work, University of Regina.
Contact information:
Email: dan.perrins@uregina.ca
Phone: (306) 585-5864
For more information on Mr. Perrins, please visit his profile page.